1 Corinthians 1:1-17

Contemporary English Version

1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.

^2 (A) To God's church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.

³ My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

⁴ I never stop thanking my God for treating you with undeserved grace by giving you Christ Jesus, ⁵ who helps you speak and understand so well. ⁶ Now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Christ Jesus is true. ⁷ You are not missing out on any blessings, as you wait for him to return. ⁸ And until the day Christ does return, he will keep you completely innocent. ⁹ God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taking Sides

¹⁰ My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don't take sides. Always try to agree in what you think. ¹¹ Several people from Chloe's family^[a] have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. ^12 (B) They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter^[b] or Christ.

¹³ Has Christ been divided up? Was I nailed to a cross for you? Were you baptized in my name? ^14 (C) I thank God^[c] that I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. ¹⁵ Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name. ^16 (D) I did baptize the family^[d] of Stephanas, but I don't remember if I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷ Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using words that sound wise and would make the cross of Christ lose its power.